Sunday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Sailaway gets needed class relief
Belmont at the Big A | Race 5 | Post Time 3:06 p.m. (ET)
Competitive Threat (#11) figures to be a pretty decisive favorite in this maiden claimer as she drops in for a tag for the first time. She's had some trouble putting her races together, as she has needed layoffs between each start. She looked like a horse with some upside when she began her career at the Meadowlands in the fall of her 2-year-old season, but now she's a 4-year-old who hasn't progressed as much as you'd like to see since then. She did meet a pretty strong field of males when she was last seen in March, fading to third behind Padiddle, who returned to finish third in a pair of graded stakes. She obviously will be tough to beat if she produces her good effort against this group, but I'm a little concerned that her strengths won't come through as strongly at this shorter distance.
Among her main rivals is Yolo (#1), who also drops in for a tag for the first time. This filly's primary weakness is her lack of early speed, but she is a relentless finisher who has been picking up pieces against tougher competition than she meets here. She drew better than the Chad Brown favorite, and she's getting back on a surface that she may prefer after competing on synthetic over the winter.
My top pick is Sailaway (#10), another filly dropping in for a tag after some maiden special weight attempts. She just got tired in her debut on synthetic, and then was always out of position when she made her turf debut at Gulfstream. She attained much better forward position when she came to Aqueduct last time, but Kendrick Carmouche made a strange decision to rein her in down the backstretch, allowing her pursuers to run right past. She took up a stalking position in the pocket, but was unable to make up that ground in the stretch. The winner of that affair, Midway Memories, looks like a stakes-bound filly for the Chad Brown stable, so I won't fault Sailaway for losing to that foe. She should make better use of her tactical speed from to get inside position from her outside draw, and she's dropping to a realistic level.